I live in a sports house. There’s no two ways about it. Our apartment eats, breathes and sleeps sports. I don’t know bobkis about sports though, which is why this is so hilarious. If you try and ask me who plays for what team, I couldn’t answer to save my life (except for, of course, the major Boston/Chicago sports figures, that if you don’t know who those people are, you live under a rock!).

Sometimes The Husband likes to tease me by saying “Can you believe what Tom Brady did on the Celtics,” to which I always remark “I thought Brady played for the Patriots” and he says “No, dummie, he’s a basketball player, you don’t know anything about sports!” I get so flustered that I believe him, even though I know, with all my heart and soul, that Brady is the quarterback for the Pats. Well, as soon as I give into him, The Husband laughs straight in my face and says something like “How do you claim to be a Boston fan when you know nothing…” Ohy. I can’t ever catch a break around here!

The Husband is another breed of human. He and his brothers write a Chicago sports blog (the premier Chicago sports blog if you ask them!) and read countless others, including The Great Rabbino! The Husband will do anything to make sure he gets to watch every single Chicago sports game. Come to our apartment on a football Sunday and you’ll see The Husband watching the main televised games, along with two other games on the computer (he uses mine to scan ESPN and other sports sites for game stats, and the other to use his Slingbox and watch Chicago games that are on TV at his parent’s house). Obsessed much? I think so.

Well, this season is no different. Currently the NBA has taken over our apartment. Every other night it’s the same thing. The Husband texts me during the day with a little snippet of excitement or countdown for the upcoming Bulls game. It’s insane really. After work The Husband comes barreling through our apartment door, throws his stuff down, and immediately plops himself onto the sofa (in the pre-dented seat which his tiny tush has occupied for the past four years) and turns on the game. Heaven help me if I so much as try to speak to him while the Bulls are busy dominating Miami.

This afternoon I got another one of those famous texts. Here’s how the conversation went:

The Husband: “Hey honey”

Me: “Holler”

The Husband: “Let’s be pals and hang out tonight”

Me: “Hooray! What time will you be home?”

The Husband: “Early side, maybe 7, 7:30. Bulls game tonight tho…”

AND THEN IT HIT ME. The Husband doesn’t want to hang out (or does he?). He just wants to make sure I know that he’s going to be home early and wants to watch the game, uninterrupted. Woe be unto the person who tries to speak during that game.

First make the chocolate rosewater ganache. This might be the simplest recipe yet. You may think that you’re having deja vu, and you are! I’ve made this ganache recipe before, but doctored it with rosewater to give it a Chicago Bulls flair. Melt the cream and butter in a saucepan until the butter is completely dissolved. Pour the hot liquid mixture over the chocolate chips and stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Add in the tablespoon of rosewater and let the mixture cool. Put it into the freezer to cool faster.

Next, make the red vanilla ice cream. Mix the half-and-half and sugar in a saucepan until the sugar is completely dissolved. Do not boil the mixture, it should really only be luke warm. Turn the stove top off and add in the vanilla paste and vanilla extract. Mix thoroughly. Last, add the red food coloring and stir. Cool the mixture completely in the refrigerator.

De-seeding the raspberry jam mixture...

Finally, make the raspberry liquor swirl. Mix the raspberry jam with the raspberry liquor (if you have seedless then feel free to ignore the following instructions, but if you couldn’t find seedless jam, or don’t want to waste the $ on it because you have raspberry jam with seeds in your refrigerator [like me!] then keep on reading!) Scoop the raspberry mixture onto the top of a fine mesh sieve and using a spoon, push the mixture back and forth, essentially draining the liquid and separating it from the seeds. Continue doing this until only a perfectly smooth raspberry jam and liquor mixture remains.

Now for the assembly: Churn the red vanilla ice cream according to the manufacturer’s instructions, approximately 20 minutes. When the ice cream is done churning take it out of the machine and begin the layering process. Scoop a bit of ice cream, cover it with ganache and a small raspberry swirl. Repeat until you finish and your ice cream is completely layered. Freeze the ice cream immediately and let it harden for approximately 2 hours before eating. When you scoop it, you’ll notice a beautiful red and black striped creation.

The ice cream, ganache and raspberry swirl layers...

The Verdict: Dennis Rodman.

What does that mean, you ask?

Well, the Chicago Bulls ice cream was good and weird, just like Dennis Rodman.

I’m not generally a fan of rosewater, but I never say no to a good chocolate raspberry combination. The liquor brought out the raspberry flavor, and the rosewater was a really unique addition to the chocolate ganache. The red vanilla ice cream was good (though for some reason, even though I knew it was vanilla, the red food coloring really tricked my taste buds).

All in, this was a cool flavor, definitely livened the Bulls spirit in our apartment, but I don’t think it was my best success. But, to tie it back to the opening Jordan quote, at least I tried…